Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World

Date: 12 Dec 2008 12:39:33
From: samsloan
Subject: Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World

Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World

In 1972, an epic chess match took place in Iceland between
representatives of the two great super-powers of the world: Bobby vs.
Boris.

Boris was backed by the Great Soviet Union, with late night phone
calls coming from his handlers in Moscow telling him what his next
move should be. Meanwhile, Bobby stood alone against the might of the
opposing nation.

But, Bobby was not exactly alone. The Americans did not need to tell
him what moves to make on the chessboard. Bobby already knew how to do
that. Rather, what the Americans needed to do was somehow get him to
sit down at the board and play the game.

Here is the story of that titanic struggle: One half of the world
trying to get Bobby to play, while the other half was trying to defeat
him assuming that he did play.

Hence the Title: Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World.

In the end, Bobby won. =C9migr=E9s from the Soviet Union state that, more
than any other single event, this defeat led to the collapse of the
Soviet Union.

The battle was won, not at the chessboard because Bobby was clearly
the better player, but in the struggle to get him to the board that is
so brilliantly described in this book.

Date: 12 Dec 2008 18:28:29
From:
Subject: Re: Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World

[email protected] wrote:
> You mean the 1974 book by Brad Darrach? The one Fischer sued him
> about but lost? It's a fun read, but I'd hardly call it brilliant. I
> read it a few years ago, in preparation for reviewing "Bobby Fischer
> Goes to War" by Edmunds and Eidinow (2004; see http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review431.pdf).
> Wanted another source for comparison. Compared to the later book, it's
> chatty, somewhat sensationalistic and superficial, and not nearly as
> useful to historians. But I agree, it does a pretty good job showing
> all the hoops everyone had to jump through to get RJF to Reykjavik.

For what it's worth, I discussed the Darrach book a couple of times
with Lina Grumette. She didn't like the book, because she thought
Darrach went out of his way to portray Fischer very unfavorably
(essentially as a giggling sociopath). However, when I asked her about
specific incidents where she had personal knowledge, she always agreed
that it had happened the way Darrach described.

Personally, I'm more inclined to trust an account written at the time,
when memories were fresh, than one produced decades later, but your
mileage may vary. Caveat lector.

Date: 12 Dec 2008 14:50:48
From: Wlodzimierz Holsztynski (Wlod)
Subject: Re: Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World

On Dec 12, 1:10 pm, [email protected] wrote:

>
> This is not a bad post by Sam Sloan.

Right, it was not a bad post from Sam,
it was horrible. You'd think that Sam is
in general somewhat intelligent. On this
occasion one would never guess.

Wlod

Date: 12 Dec 2008 13:19:31
From:
Subject: Re: Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World

On Dec 12, 3:39=A0pm, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote:
> Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World
>
> In 1972, an epic chess match took place in Iceland between
> representatives of the two great super-powers of the world: Bobby vs.
> Boris.
>
> Boris was backed by the Great Soviet Union, with late night phone
> calls coming from his handlers in Moscow telling him what his next
> move should be. Meanwhile, Bobby stood alone against the might of the
> opposing nation.
>
> But, Bobby was not exactly alone. The Americans did not need to tell
> him what moves to make on the chessboard. Bobby already knew how to do
> that. Rather, what the Americans needed to do was somehow get him to
> sit down at the board and play the game.
>
> Here is the story of that titanic struggle: One half of the world
> trying to get Bobby to play, while the other half was trying to defeat
> him assuming that he did play.
>
> Hence the Title: Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World.
>
>
> The battle was won, not at the chessboard because Bobby was clearly
> the better player, but in the struggle to get him to the board that is
> so brilliantly described in this book.

You mean the 1974 book by Brad Darrach? The one Fischer sued him
about but lost? It's a fun read, but I'd hardly call it brilliant. I
read it a few years ago, in preparation for reviewing "Bobby Fischer
Goes to War" by Edmunds and Eidinow (2004; see http://www.chesscafe.com/tex=
t/review431.pdf).
Wanted another source for comparison. Compared to the later book, it's
chatty, somewhat sensationalistic and superficial, and not nearly as
useful to historians. But I agree, it does a pretty good job showing
all the hoops everyone had to jump through to get RJF to Reykjavik.

> In the end, Bobby won. =C9migr=E9s from the Soviet Union state that, more
> than any other single event, this defeat led to the collapse of the
> Soviet Union.

Right. And when Joe Louis KOed Max Schmeling it was the most
important single event in defeating Nazi Germany. Heck, in retrospect,
we probably needn't have bothered with WW II. Also Capablanca's defeat
of Lasker caused the hyper-inflation that devalued the German Mark in
the early 1920s, and Paul Morphy's triumph at the 1st American Chess
Congress was the reason the South won the Civil War.

What emigres from the Soviet Union have said this?

Date: 12 Dec 2008 13:10:44
From:
Subject: Re: Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World